Credit: Matt Stone

Credit: Matt Stone

Marathon bombing victim Mery Daniel with Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz before the MLB game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.

Credit: Matt Stone

Andrew Bailey

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It was a victory lap four years in the making.

David Ortiz has 11 career walkoff home runs, more than any active player. All but one have come as a member of the Red Sox, giving him the club record. But he hadn’t ended a game with a homer since Aug. 26, 2009 — a span of 455 games in a career that just keeps on getting better.

So, after Rangers manager Ron Washington decided to intentionally walk dangerous Dustin Pedroia and pitch to Ortiz with no outs and the winning run on second base in the ninth inning last night, Big Papi never flinched. He didn’t waste time either, lining the first pitch from reliever Michael Kirkman into the Texas bullpen.

And then, he stood at home plate and admired his work.

“You don’t have to haul (expletive). Just jump around and pimp it out,” Ortiz said after giving the Red Sox a 6-3 victory and a series win against the tough Rangers. “I’m just thinking about the (expletive)-beating that’s waiting for me at the plate. You’re excited. You don’t feel anything at the time.”

Walking the batter in front of Ortiz used to be common practice. In fact, in 40 previous occasions in which the batter before him was intentionally walked, Ortiz had never homered.

But then, Manny Ramirez hasn’t played for the Red Sox since the summer of 2008, and Ortiz remains the team’s biggest threat to win a game with one swing.

“They don’t like to mess with Papi late in the game,” Ortiz said. “They stopped doing that.”

Apparently, Washington didn’t get the memo.

To be fair, the Rangers manager was in a no-win situation after Jonny Gomes matched his career-high with his fourth hit, a double to open the ninth inning. Pedroia is batting .329 and has been clutch in big situations, and Ortiz is, well, Ortiz.

Asked if he thought the Rangers would walk Pedroia, Ortiz smiled.

“Not at all,” he said. “You don’t wake up a monster like that.”

Still, Washington believed it was a no-brainer.

“That was the best move to make right there. It was the only move to make,” Washington said. “I could live with Papi doing that, but if I would have thrown to Pedroia and he would’ve won the game, I couldn’t live with that.”

In winning the rubber game of a three-game series against the Rangers, the Red Sox increased their league-leading victory total to 37. They also notched their fifth walkoff win and won for the fifth time in 23 games when trailing after six innings.

“The way we’ve kind of created that character about us, we kind of created a nice home-field advantage,” Gomes said. “I think we did that in the previous months. Coming up with 2-3-4 to start the inning off, I think we were pretty confident.”

When Ortiz strode to the plate with a chance to win the game, Gomes was downright certain it would happen. And his conviction only grew when he saw the ball connect with Ortiz’ bat.

“Every time he swings, you think it’s gone coming off his bat,” Gomes said. “He knows all his clubs pretty well, and he was not hot out of the box. Thought it had a good chance to go over the fence.

“He’s got a niche for it. I was talking about him earlier, about how he has the ability to get the job done. Sometimes you need a homer. It’s hard enough to hit a homer. To hit a homer almost at will, he’s an unbelievable hitter. And he’s not done yet. We’ve still got him.”